Cleaning attachment for rakes.



W. H. GREENWELL.

CLEANING ATTAcHMEN Fon RAKES.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 26| 1915.

Patented May 9, 1916.

'WH @meek/Well COLUMBIA PLANQGRAPH .50., WASHINGTDMD.

WILLIAM H. GREENWELL, OF GLOVERLPORT, KENTUCKY.

CLEANING- ATTACHMENT FOR RAKES.

maaier.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 9, 1916.

- Appli-cation led March 26, 1915. Serial No. 17,188.

To all fav/wm t may concern Y Be it knownjthat l, WILLIAM H. GREEN- wnLL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cloverport, in the county of Breckin- 5 ridge and State of Kentucky, haveinvented certain new and useful improvements in Cleaning Attachments for Rakes; and I do hereby declare the following to be a7full clear, andr exact description of the invention,

such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements in cleaning attachments for rakes and has for its principal object to provide a device which may be easily and quickly attached to a rake of the ordinary construction without in any way altering the same.

Another object of the invention is to pro- 0 vide a device which is interchangeable and may be easily and quickly attached to one rake or removed therefrom and placed on another.

Still another object of the invention is to 5 provide a novel means for supporting the stripping bar and operating lever of the device.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in the novel combination 0 and arrangement of parts which will be fully set forth in the following specification and accompanying drawings, in which,

Figure l is a fragmentary side view in elevation of a rake showing this improved 5 cleaner attached thereto, Fig. 2 is a top plan view of Fig. l, Fig. 3 is a fragmentary front view in elevation of this improved cleaner, and Fig. 4; is a sectional view taken on line 4.-4 of Fig. l.

0 Referring to the drawings the numeral 1 designates as an entirety a rake of the usual construction comprising the handle 2 which is provided at its forward end with the ferrule 3.

5 The rake head designated generally by the numeral l is shown attached to the ferrule and comprises ay strip of metal 5 which is formed with the teeth 6 and provided with the rearwardly extendingfarms 7 which 0 are bent parallel and extend into the rake handle. f

The cleaning attachment designated generally by the numeral 8 comprises a base block 9 which is provided with the arcuate 5 under surface 10 which surface is of a size sufficient to t the curvature of therake handle. Extending upwardly from the body 9 are the parallel extensions 11 which are formed near their upper ends with suitable apertures for the reception of the bolt l2 which acts as a pivot on which the lever carrying the stripping bar is pivotally mounted. The body 9 extends forwardly from the arms l1` as shown in the drawing in Fig. l and is recessed to receive the lower end of the coiled spring 13, the use of which will appearV as the description proceeds.

Pivoted to the bolt l2 and extending between the upward extensions l1 is the flat portion 14: of the operating lever l5, the rear end of which terminates in a linger hold 16 and the forward end of said lever is provided `with the cross piece 17y which carries the stripping bar as will be more fully hereinafter described.

The stripping bar hereinbefore referred to is designed generally by the numeral 18 and comprises the bar 19 having formed at each end the upward extension 2O which projects upwardly and have their upper ends wound about the bar 17 as at 2l. These ends are continued and twisted around the bar toward its center as at 22 and it will thus be seen that the stripping bar 18 will be held in operating position at all times.

rlhe upper end of the coiled spring 13 abuts the under side of the flat portion 4 of the operating rod l5 and this spring being of the compression type will normally hold the operating rod and stripping bar in the position illustrated in Fig. l by the full lines.

Securedto the body 9 on the exterior thereof are suitable clamping elements 23 provided with the downwardly extending ears 24' through which the clamping bolts 25 extend. This clamping bolt is provided with the usual nut and it will be evident vthat,

when the device is attached to the rake of the ordinary type the clamping elements `23 coperate with the body 9 in surrounding the rake handle and upon tightening the nut on the bolt 25 it will be evident that the cleaning device will be normally held in place due, to the frictional engagement of the arcuate face of the body 9 with the rake handle as well as the frictional engagement of the innerfaces 0f the clamping elements with said handle.

It will be evident from the foregoing-that in use when it is desired to force trash fromk the ends of the rake teeth, the finger hold V16 of the operating rod 15 is raised as shown by the dotted lines in Fig. l and this will cause the stripping bar 18 to descend toward theends of the rake teeth and thereby Jforce any trash therefrom. In this way it will be evident that the teeth of a rake may be readily cleaned without inconvenience to the user and as soon as the trash'is removed the spring 13 will return the cleaner to its normal raised position thus leaving the rake in condition for use.

hile in the foregoing there has been shown and described the preferred embodiinent of' this invention, it is to be understood that such changes may be inade in the lconilnnation and arrangement of parts as ywill fall within the spirit and scope of Vthe appended claim.

That is claimed is Y A rake cleaner or' the class describedincluding the combination with a rake head having a handle attachedV thereto, aid rake cleaner comprisinga stripping bar adapted to lt up over the teeth of the rake head, a link connected to the central portion or" the stripping bar and extending upwardly therefrom, a base block, said base block comprising a body the under surface of which` is concaved to conform to the coniiguration of a handle, a ia'ir of arms secured to the up- Gcpies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each,

1 or said Vears for iirinly as a handle,

face with a recess adjacent the arms, a pair of ears'fornied on Yopposite sides of said` block and depending downwardly there from, ineans secured to the lower terminals clamping the block in position upon the rake handle, a lever having a slot portion centrally of its ends, one end of said lever being curved and its opposite end terminating into a loop, said looped end of the lever being pivotally connected to the upper terminal or' the linlc of the stripping bar, the slot portion ofk said lever pivotally connected between the arms of the base block and its opposite end acting a coil spring resting inthe recess on the upper face of the block and ccnnected to the central portion of said lever,

said spring adapted Vto hold the stripping bar up in engagement with the rake head.

In testimony whereof I my signature in presence of two witnesses.

Vilitnesses ALLEN BLACK, L. E. E. MoADii.

by addressing the Commissioner o1 Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

